Greetings to the OPEN community. We are glad to bring you this update on our activities for the second half of 2017.

Post-secondary education: Ignite Scholarship Program

We support 110 students through this scholarship program for academic year 2017-18. Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees. Most students in this program are poor, with average family income of Rs. 8000 per month. Our budget for the 2017-2018 academic year is $18,000.

We held career coaching classes for the students at Ganapathy Iyer School in Chennai. The aim is to prepare the students for interviews - by making them practice public speaking and participating in group discussions, and writing professional resumes.

Results-based education: Supplemental Classes by Vidyarambam

We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics supplemental programs to 6 partner schools in Chennai. Vidyarambam have now integrated their curriculum with the Samacheer State Board Curriculum and have been requested to run their program for the entire school year, up from the 5 months that they were running their programs previously. Our budget for the 2017-2018 academic year is $27,000, for 1350 students in 8 Chennai schools, at an annual cost/student of $21.

For English testing, Vidyarambam have made their methodology consistent with that of ASER. They now look at ability to recognize letters, words, sentences and paragraphs.

The Easy Learning English coaching pre-post comparisons for 7th standard below show the great improvement in performance of the children from the diagnostic phase to the mid-year test phase for 2017-18. The vast majority of children progress from C grade (red bar) to A and B grades (green and blue bars).

Results-based education: Ashraya libraries, Arts and Science Clubs

The Ashraya Trust runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. We support librarian salaries and salaries for Arts and Science teachers at 5 of these schools. The reading program is open to all students in classes 4-8, and the Arts and Science clubs are open to the best 20 students in classes 6-8 from each school. The reading level of all students is monitored, and remedial instructions are provided to the bottom 20% of each batch. The best 20 students are enrolled in a Book of the Month Club, and get to pick the best books and do book reports. The top 20 students at each school participate in the Arts and Science clubs. Ashraya are focusing their intervention on approximately the top 10%, and bottom 20%, of students. Our budget for academic year 2017-2018 is $7400, and we support 700 children in 5 schools, at an annual cost/student of approx $10.

Many of you will recall that OPEN's first project was the construction of the noon meal kitchen for Jaigopal Garodia Girls' High School, Saidapet, Chennai. We provided $935 towards repair and renovation of the kitchen.

The Turning Point Trust aims to improve life skills for the children of slum dwellers in Rotary Nagar, Chennai. A Children's parliament, personality development classes, and first aid training classes are conducted on weekends to coach children on public speaking, and help is provided to perform homework. We are looking to fund expansion of this program to two centers in order to keep kids in school.

We are sponsoring 10 children from the Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore, with scholarships for school. We are funding after-school Math tuition classes for standards 6-8 in 3 schools in Bangalore, in collaboration with the Adarsh Colony CSRFoundation. We continue to fund computer teacher salaries at Somasundaram School in rural Tamil Nadu.

OPEN key statistics, 2003 - December 2017

The OPEN community has supported over 30,800 students in the past 15 years. A breakdown of grants is shown in the chart above.

OPEN Needs You

OPEN has been registered as a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. Please use the year-end opportunity to contribute to the children of India, and save on your taxes. Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to Kumar or Rajesh at:

Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152

Rajesh Ramadoss, 38 Ocean St, Millburn, NJ 07041

Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Sriram in India in favor of OPEN India Charitable Trust:

Please consider investing in India's future. To delay may mean to forget.

Sincerely,

The OPEN Team

2017 H1 Update

Greetings to the OPEN community. We are glad to bring you this update on our activities for the first half of 2017, and apologize for the delay in sending this update. The delay was due to collecting as much data as we could re: the final statistics for our 2016-17 Ignite scholarship program, with graduation results trickling in well into September.

Spring Fundraiser: Concert by Rasika

Our fundraising concert in late May, played by Rasika, was a great success. Over 800 people attended the show and supported the education of children in India. We thank Rasika for the time and effort that they put into making this concert a treat for the senses, and we thank the audience, our sponsors, and our long-standing contributors for helping us meet our fundraising goal for the concert.

Post-secondary education: Ignite Scholarship Program

We supported 130 students through this scholarship program for academic year 2016-17. Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees. Most students in this program are poor, with average family income of Rs. 8000 per month. Our budget for the 2017-2018 academic year is $23,000.

We are glad to announce that 48 of the 57 final year students have graduated on time. 27 of these graduates have jobs or have enrolled in higher study programs. Given the poverty of these students, graduating is a major success.

We are incredibly glad to announce that R.Karthik, who completed a BE (Mech) program from Coimbatore Institute of Technology in 2016, has now been admitted to a Masters program in Metallurgical Engineering from RwthAachen University in Germany. This program is in the top 20 in the world. We are also glad to note that Ms.Krithika has been admitted to an M.Pharm program after shining in her undergraduate degree. These students would not have completed their undergraduate degrees without your support.

Results-based education: Supplemental Classes by Vidyarambam

We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics supplemental programs to 6 partner schools in Chennai. Over 1700 students were coached in English (classes 6-8) and Math (classes 1-5) during academic year 2016-2017. We are glad to report that Vidyarambam have now integrated their curriculum with the Samacheer State Board Curriculum and have been requested to run their program for the entire school year, up from the 5 months that they were running their programs previously. Our budget for the 2017-2018 academic year is $26,000, for 1200 students in 9 Chennai schools, at an annual cost/student of $22.

The Easy Learning English coaching pre-post comparisons below show the great improvement in performance of the children from the diagnostic phase to the final test phase for 2016-17. The vast majority of children progress from C grade (red bar) to A grade (green bar).

Results-based education: Ashraya libraries, Arts and Science Clubs

The Ashraya Foundation runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. We support librarian salaries and salaries for Arts and Science teachers at 5 of these schools. The reading program is open to all students in classes 4-8, and the Arts and Science clubs are open to the best 20 students in classes 6-8 from each school. The reading level of all students is monitored, and remedial instructions are provided to the bottom 20% of each batch. The best 20 students are enrolled in a Book of the Month Club, and get to pick the best books and do book reports. The top 20 students at each school participate in the Arts and Science clubs. Ashraya are focusing their intervention on approximately the top 10%, and bottom 20%, of students. Our budget for academic year 2017-2018 is $7000, and we support 700 children in 5 schools, at an annual cost/student of approx $10.

Ashraya results show that at least 40% of the children improved reading by one level over the course of the year. In particular, 65% of the students in the remedial reading program saw improvement in reading.

Rural Education: Single Teacher Schools

We continue funding the Single Teacher program, run by the Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society, for operating expenses for 5 schools (168 students) in Tiruvallur district in rural Tamil Nadu. One person teaches all children in the school, who study together though they may be in different grades. After completing Class 5, students are expected to continue education at regular schools.

The Turning Point Trust aims to improve life skills for the children of slum dwellers in Rotary Nagar, Chennai. A Children's parliament, personality development classes, and first aid training classes are conducted on weekends to coach children on public speaking, and help is provided to perform homework. We are looking to fund expansion of this program to two centers in order to keep kids in school.

We are sponsoring 10 children from the Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore, with scholarships for school. We are funding after-school Math tuition classes for standards 6-8 in 3 schools in Bangalore, in collaboration with the Adarsh Colony CSRFoundation. We continue to fund computer teacher salaries at Somasundaram School in rural Tamil Nadu

OPEN key statistics, 2003 - June 2017

The OPEN community has supported over 27,000 students in the past 13 years. A breakdown of grants is shown in the chart above.

OPEN Needs You

OPEN has been registered as a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. Please use the year-end opportunity to contribute to the children of India, and save on your taxes. Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to Kumar or Rajesh at:

Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152

Rajesh Ramadoss, 38 Ocean St, Millburn, NJ 07041

Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Sriram in India in favor of OPEN India Charitable Trust:

Please consider investing in India's future. To delay may mean to forget.

Sincerely,

The OPEN Team

2016 H2 Update

Greetings to the OPEN community. We wish everyone a happy holiday season, and a happy and prosperous New Year. We are glad to bring you this update on our activities for the second half of 2016.

Post-secondary education: Ignite Scholarship Program

We support 130 students through this scholarship program for academic year 2016-17. Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees. Most students in this program are poor, with average family income of Rs. 6000-8000 per month. Our budget for the 2016-2017 academic year is $23,000.

Our goals for these students are first, that they graduate, and second, that they obtain jobs. We conducted career counseling and resume preparation classes, and mock interview sessions, for these students in August-September 2016. Classes were held over 6 Sundays at Ganapathy Iyer School in Gopalapuram, to prepare students for campus interviews that are typically held in the first semester of the academic year. This particular set of classes were organized by OPEN, and funded by the Vignesh Educational Trust, the family trust of one of the OPEN board members, Sashikala Krishna.

The video below shows one of the children who came to our career counseling sessions in Feb-March 2016. The children were coached in resume-writing, interviewing, and public speaking, and on general career options for their particular skills.

Results-based education: Supplemental Classes by Vidyarambam

We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics supplemental programs to 6 partner schools in Chennai. Over 1700 students were coached in English (classes 6-8) and Math (classes 1-5) during academic year 2015-2016. Our budget for the 2016-2017 academic year is $27,000, for 1700 students, at an annual cost/student of $16.50.

The video above shows a typical Vidyarambam class in action. It is heartening to see how engaged the children are in class.

The Easy Learning English coaching pre-post comparisons below show the great improvement in performance of the children from the diagnostic phase to the mid test phase for 2016-17. The vast majority of children progress from C grade (red bar) to A grade (green bar).

Results-based education: Ashraya libraries, Arts and Science Clubs

The Ashraya Foundation runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. We support librarian salaries and salaries for Arts and Science teachers at 5 of these schools. The reading program is open to all students in classes 4-8, and the Arts and Science clubs are open to the best 20 students in classes 6-8 from each school. The reading level of all students is monitored, and remedial instructions are provided to the bottom 20% of each batch. The best 20 students are enrolled in a Book of the Month Club, and get to pick the best books and do book reports. The top 20 students at each school participate in the Arts and Science clubs. Ashraya are focusing their intervention on approximately the top 10%, and bottom 20%, of students. Our budget for academic year 2016-2017 is $6800, and we support 700 children in 5 schools, at an annual cost/student of approx $10.

Ashraya are also making a concerted effort to improve the reading of the 20% of students with a dedicated Kannada teacher who coaches weak students at each school for two sessions a week. The results below show that at least half of these weak students improve by at least one reading level.

Rural Education: Single Teacher Schools

We continue funding the Single Teacher program, run by the Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society, for operating expenses for 5 schools (168 students) in Tiruvallur district in rural Tamil Nadu. One person teaches all children in the school, who study together though they may be in different grades. After completing Class 5, students are expected to continue education at regular schools.

The Turning Point Trust aims to improve life skills for the children of slum dwellers in Rotary Nagar, Chennai. A Children's parliament, personality development classes, and first aid training classes are conducted on weekends to coach children on public speaking, and help is provided to perform homework.

We are sponsoring 10 children from the Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore, with scholarships for school. We are funding after-school Math tuition classes for standards 6-8 in 3 schools in Bangalore, in collaboration with the Adarsh Colony CSRFoundation. We continue to fund computer teacher salaries at Somasundaram School in rural Tamil Nadu

OPEN key statistics, 2003 - June 2016

The OPEN community has supported over 25,000 students in the past 13 years. A breakdown of grants is shown in the chart above. We wish to point out that for infrastructure projects such as classrooms, only the students benefited in the year of the grant have been included in the student count. The actual student count is likely much higher, as a typical classroom can be used for 5+ years, and typical furniture for 3+ years.

OPEN Needs You

OPEN has been registered as a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. Please use the year-end opportunity to contribute to the children of India, and save on your taxes. Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to Kumar or Rajesh at:

Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152

Rajesh Ramadoss, 38 Ocean St, Millburn, NJ 07041

Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Sriram in India in favor of OPEN India Charitable Trust:

Please consider investing in India's future. To delay may mean to forget.

Sincerely,

The OPEN Team

2016 H1 Update

Greetings to the OPEN community. We are glad to bring you this update on our activities for the first half of 2016.

Chennai floods update

Flood damage to the OPEN partner schools in Chennai turned out to be more limited than we had initially estimated. Schools were also ably supported by local NGOs and by the government.

We funded the repair of benches and desks at Jaigopal Garodia School in Virugambakkam, Chennai; we also replaced the stage and assembly portico at this school, for a total cost of USD 10,600.

Post-secondary education: Ignite Scholarship Program

As a reminder, we supported 150 students last year through this scholarship program. Students are predominantly in college for B.Com., B.Sc., 3 year Polytechnic, or 4-year Engineering degrees.

We are glad to announce that 30 of the 36 final year students have graduated on time. 21 of them already have jobs or have enrolled in higher studies programs. We want to reiterate that these students come from very poor backgrounds, with average family income of Rs. 6000 (before we enroll them, we visit them at home and verify living commensurate with stated income); they have typically studied in Tamil medium high schools, and hence college graduation is a major achievement. Here are homes of two of the students that we are considering for our program this year. One is a single room home and the other is an equally humble dwelling.

Our goals for these students are first, that they graduate, and second, that they obtain jobs. We conducted career counseling and mock interview sessions for the students in Feb-March 2016. Classes were held over 6 Sundays at Ganapathy Iyer School in Gopalapuram. Though most colleges had extra weekend classes to make up flood-lost days, more than half the students attended these sessions. We plan to continue these classes this academic year as well. The children realize the importance of practical training, and several continuing students have obtained summer internships through OPEN.

We are currently in the selection process for new students. Our budget for the 2016-2017 academic year is $23,000.

The video below shows one of the children who came to our career counseling sessions in Feb-March 2016. The children were coached in resume-writing, interviewing, and public speaking, and on general career options for their particular skills.

Results-based education: Supplemental Classes by Vidyarambam

We mentioned in our last update that the founder of Vidyarambam, Mr. Ranganathan, passed away. We are happy to note that one of his sons has taken up the mantle of running the foundation, and dedicated staff are still in place to execute Mr. Ranganathan's vision.

We continue working with Vidyarambam Trust to bring their Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics supplemental programs to 6 partner schools in Chennai. Over 1700 students were coached in English (classes 6-8) and Math (classes 1-5) during academic year 2015-2016. Our budget for the 2015-2016 academic year is $27,000, for 1700 students, at an annual cost/student of $16.50.

The pre-post comparisons below show the great improvement in performance of the children from the diagnostic phase to the final test phase for 2015-16. The vast majority of children progress from C grade (red bar) to A grade (green bar).

Here are some photographs of Vidyarambam classes in action.

Results-based education: Ashraya libraries, Arts and Science Clubs

The Ashraya Foundation runs libraries and Science and Arts clubs at 9 schools in rural Karnataka. We support librarian salaries and salaries for Arts and Science teachers at 4 of these schools. The reading program is open to all students in classes 4-8, and the Arts and Science clubs are open to the best 20 students in classes 6-8 from each school. The reading level of all students is monitored, and remedial instructions are provided to the bottom 20% of each batch. The best 20 students are enrolled in a Book of the Month Club, and get to pick the best books and do book reports. Our budget for academic year 2015-2016 is $6800, and we support 700 children in 4 schools, at an annual cost/student of approx $10.

The 2015-16 chart below shows that 1/3 children improved their reading over the course of the year. Ashraya has hired a dedicated Kannada teacher to provide remedial instruction to batches of 200 students over 2 months, with the target of improving reading levels in 2 in 3 children. The video shows a profile of Art student Sahana, and the picture after that shows the landscape painting competition winners at Ashraya's Leonardo da Vinci day in Feb 2016.

Rural Education: Single Teacher Schools

We continue funding the Single Teacher program, run by the Swami Vivekananda Rural Development Society, for operating expenses for 5 schools (168 students) in Tiruvallur district in rural Tamil Nadu. One person teaches all children in the school, who study together though they may be in different grades. After completing Class 5, students are expected to continue education at regular schools.

Ongoing Projects

We continue our support of Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Gopalapuram, Chennai, with tuition scholarships for poor children, and operating expenses for after-school classes (chess, karate) and breakfast/evening snacks. This program benefits 170 children. All 47 girls who wrote the Class X board exam passed; 19 of the 47 scored above 400/500; and the highest mark obtained was 473.

The Turning Point Trust aims to improve life skills for the children of slum dwellers in Rotary Nagar, Chennai. A Children's parliament, personality development classes, and first aid training classes are conducted on weekends to coach children on public speaking, and help is provided to perform homework.

We are sponsoring 10 children from the Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore, with scholarships for school; in 2015-16, all 10 passed with A grade. We are funding after-school Math tuition classes for standards 6-8 in 3 schools in Bangalore, in collaboration with the Adarsh Colony CSRFoundation. We continue to fund computer teacher salaries at Somasundaram School in rural Tamil Nadu. We continue to monitor scholarship grants for poor children at Jaigopal Garodia Rashtrotthana Vidyalaya in Bangalore.

OPEN key statistics, 2003 - June 2016

The OPEN community has supported over 25,000 students in the past 13 years. A breakdown of grants is shown in the chart above. We wish to point out that for infrastructure projects such as classrooms, only the students benefited in the year of the grant have been included in the student count. The actual student count is likely much higher, as a typical classroom can be used for 5+ years, and typical furniture for 3+ years.

OPEN Needs You

OPEN has been registered as a non-profit charitable foundation in India and in the U.S. Contributions in both countries are tax-deductible. As always, our ability to fund these projects depends on your generosity. Please use the year-end opportunity to contribute to the children of India, and save on your taxes. Checks payable to OPEN Inc. may be sent to Kumar or Rajesh at:

Kumar Thiagarajan, 25470 Gimbel Dr, South Riding, VA 20152

Rajesh Ramadoss, 38 Ocean St, Millburn, NJ 07041

Tax-deductible contributions may be sent to Sriram in India in favor of OPEN India Charitable Trust: